Enclosed game or sport facility

ABSTRACT

A game or sport facility in the form of an enclosed court which, because of its shape and arrangement, permits the playing by two persons of a vigorous and strenuous competitive racket and ball game or sport (adapted to the facility) within an area considerably smaller than has heretofore been possible. The enclosure for the court includes upstanding walls on all sides thereof wherein one wall, which is designated as the front wall of the facility, is adjoined by four obtusely angled, narrow, upstanding wall sections with two of the sections on each side thereof. These sections preclude rebounds of balls off of the aforementioned front wall which would be too difficult for a competitor to return against the wall in the limited playing area of the game facility.

United States Patent Liebig ENCLOSED GAME OR SPORT FACILITY [76]Inventor: Anthony E. Liebig, 432 Denslow Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90049[22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 184,341

Forsyth 273/30 Sept. 11, 1973 Primary Examiner-Anton O. OechsleAssistant Examiner-R. T. Stouff er [57] ABSTRACT A game or sportfacility in the form of an enclosed court which, because of its shapeand arrangement, permits the playing by two persons of a vigorous andstrenuous competitive racket and ball game or sport (adapted to thefacility) within an area considerably smaller than has heretofore beenpossible. The enclosure for the court includes upstanding walls on allsides thereof wherein one wall, which is designated as the front wall ofthe facility, is adjoined by four obtusely angled, narrow, upstandingwall sections with two of the sections on each side thereof. Thesesections preclude rebounds of balls off of the aforementioned front wallwhich would be too difficult for a competitor to return against the wallin the limited playing area of the game facility.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 1 ENCLOSED GAME OR SPORT FACILITY BRIEFSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Existing ball and racket sports require toomuch space for the average urban residential lot. Further, such outdoorracket and ball sports as tennis and paddle tennis require so much spacethat roofing the courts is uneconomical with the result that they mayonly be played in fair weather, while the indoor squash rackets requiresnot only a large amount of space but a very expensive, heavy permanentstructure.

This invention has as its salient object to provide a facility in whicha vigorous, strenuous, ex-citing and competitive game or sport can beplayed by two people in the smallest possible area, which is but a smallfraction of the area required for any known outdoor or indoor ball andracket sport. The dimensions, angles, and playing lines of applicantsfacility, in concert with the particular ball and rackets referred tobelow, result in such a game or sport. Another object and result is toprovide an inexpensive, movable, prefabricatable, allweather game orsport facility. (In practice the facility is roofed and interiorlyilluminated, but neither roof nor the illumination are parts of thespecification or claim.)

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingspecification taken in connection with the drawings which form a part ofthe application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of the playingarea, or floor, showing the angular relationship of the wallssurrounding the playing area with respect to each other in theembodiment and the location of the floor markings.

FIG. 2 is a view of the front wall, B, and the adjoining walls, D and E,and markings thereon.

FIG. 3 is a cut-away side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the spirit and scope ofinvention are broader than the exact dimensions and angles in theparticular embodiment described below and shown in the drawings, suchdimensions and angles by themselves and as they relate to one another,the playing lines, and the described sport constitute elements of theinvention.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, thereisan octagonal structure consisting of vertical walls and a floor with anentry door, A, which is interiorly flush when closed and remains closedduring play. The walls and floor are constructed so as to be rigid;however, the dynamics of the sport are such that a structure adequatefor the sport may be constructed of braced three-quarter inch plywood.The walls and floor are colored white or another very light color exceptas noted below. One of the walls, B, is referred to herein (and in theRules of the Sport) as the Front Wall; it is parallel to the oppositewall which is referred to as the Back Wall. The two major dimensionwalls, C, are parallel to each other and at right angles to the Frontand Back walls and are known as the Side Walls. The respectivedimentionsof each of these walls in the illustrated embodiment is 9 feetfor the height of the Front Wall, and 16 feet and 12 feet for the lengthof the Side Walls and Back Wall respectively. A Target Area on the FrontWall and the two adjoining walls, D, is described and bounded by clearlyvisible black lines, T. The two walls, E, are under the Rules of theSport out of play areas (i.e., when the ball strikes one of them duringplay, it is ipso facto "dead) and in practice they are of a'colordifferent from the other walls and floor and may be sheathed with alight metal to sound when struck. in the illustrated embodiment, wall Dforms an angle of 160 with wall B while wall E forms an angle of 145with both walls C and D.

The game is played with a hollow rubber ball approximately 2% inches indiameter, unpressured and perforated so as not to be too live, or fast,for the closeness of quarters, and rackets with a circular tightlystrung area approximately eight inches in diameter and shafts (includinggrips) of approximately seven inches.

The ball is served from anywhere behind the floor service line (yellowline), F, to the portion of the Target Area above the service line inthe Target Area (red line), G, either directly or indirectly ofi oneSide Wall or the Back Wall; to be in bounds, or fair, it must reboundfrom the Target Area so as to first strike the floor between the CourtLines (black lines), I-I. These several lines are placed and related toone another (as well as ball and racket characteristics) so as toencourageskilled service but to preclude a service so fast as to bepre-emptive in the confined area. The dimensional relationship of thelines in the illustrated embodiment includes the following spacings. Thelowest horizontal line of the Target Area, outlined by lines T, is 24inches above the floor. Additionally, line G is 26 inches above thisline and 5 8 inches below the top of the Front Wall, B. Turning now tothe playing lines found on the floor of the structure, the Court use, Hwhich is nearest the FrontWallis 60 inches therefrom and 53 inches infront of the other Court Line. Located 18 inches in front of the otherCourt Line is Service Line F, which is also 61 inches in front of theBack Wall. In alternately volleying the ball after the service, playersmust hit the ball before it twice hits the floor and must hit it so thatit willstrike in the Target Area (either directly or after firststriking one or more of the other walls) before it hits the floor again.The purpose and result in use of the walls D and E placed and inrelation to the other walls and the game lines, rules, and equipment, isto produce exciting and sustained play by: (l) precluding rebounds ofthe sort that are too difficult or impossible to return within thelimited area; (2) materially reducing the probability and frequency ofcollision between players during play; and (3) adding a further elementof skill.

I claim:

1. An enclosed game or sport facility of a size to accommodate thereintwo persons playing a racket-type game, said facility comprising agenerally rectangular playing floor bounded on all sides by a continuousupstanding wall structure, said wall structure comprising a frontportion, rear portion and two side portions,

wherein said front portion is parallel to said rear portion and saidfront and rear portions are at right angles to each of said sideportions located therebetween, wherein the two adjacent corners formedbetween the front portion and each of the side portions each includestwo additional upstanding wall portions between one end of said frontportion and the adjacent end of the corresponding side portion, said twoadditional wall portions of each of said corners forming an obtuse angleof substantially less than therebetween, and said additional wallportions of each of said corners further forming an obtuse angle ofsubstantially less than 3 ,75 8 106 3 4 180 with the respective abuttingfront wall portion and tional wall portions on either side thereofhaving means side wan PF said Playing floor having thereon providing twohorizontal garnelines readily vismeans provldlng three paralleltransverse game lmes readily visible to the unaided eye of a user, andsaid Me to the named aye of a user front portion and the adjacent one ofsaid two addi- 5

1. An enclosed game or sport facility of a size to accommodate thereintwo persons playing a racket-type game, said facility comprising agenerally rectangular playing floor bounded on all sides by a continuousupstanding wall structure, said wall structure comprising a frontportion, rear portion and two side portions, wherein said front portionis parallel to said rear portion and said front and rear portions are atright angles to each of said side portions located therebetween, whereinthe two adjacent corners fOrmed between the front portion and each ofthe side portions each includes two additional upstanding wall portionsbetween one end of said front portion and the adjacent end of thecorresponding side portion, said two additional wall portions of each ofsaid corners forming an obtuse angle of substantially less than 180*therebetween, and said additional wall portions of each of said cornersfurther forming an obtuse angle of substantially less than 180* with therespective abutting front wall portion and side wall portion, saidplaying floor having thereon means providing three parallel transversegame lines readily visible to the unaided eye of a user, and said frontportion and the adjacent one of said two additional wall portions oneither side thereof having means thereon providing two horizontal gamelines readily visible to the unaided eye of a user.